skip to content

Engineering Biology in Cambridge

 
Read more at: New paper out from Jewett lab on cell-free biosynthesis of limonene using enzyme-enriched Escherichia coli lysates
New paper out from Jewett lab on cell-free biosynthesis of limonene using enzyme-enriched Escherichia coli lysates

New paper out from Jewett lab on cell-free biosynthesis of limonene using enzyme-enriched Escherichia coli lysates

6 March 2019

Isoprenoids are an attractive class of metabolites for enzymatic synthesis from renewable substrates. However, metabolic engineering of microorganisms for monoterpenoid production is limited by the need for time-consuming, and often non-intuitive, combinatorial tuning of biosynthetic pathway variations to meet design criteria. Towards alleviating this limitation, the goal of this work was to build a modular, cell-free platform for construction and testing of monoterpenoid pathways, using the fragrance and flavoring molecule limonene as a model.


Read more at: Two publications describe focus stacking setup developed through OpenPlant Fund and Biomaker Challenge
Two publications describe focus stacking setup developed through OpenPlant Fund and Biomaker Challenge

Two publications describe focus stacking setup developed through OpenPlant Fund and Biomaker Challenge

29 January 2019

Dr Jennifer Deegan has built a Focus Stacking system that enables her to take close up, high-definition photos of very small gametophyte ferns. The project was further developed through an OpenPlant Fund and the Biomaker Challenge, during which she collaborated with an interdisciplinary team to photograph new samples and build up teaching tools to enable others to replicate the system.


Read more at: Speed Breeding Made Accessible and Democratic
Speed Breeding Made Accessible and Democratic

Speed Breeding Made Accessible and Democratic

15 January 2019

Scientists at the John Innes Centre, Earlham Institute, and Quadram Institute in Norwich and the University of Queensland have improved the technique, known as speed breeding, adapting it to work in vast glasshouses and in scaled-down desktop growth chambers.


Read more at: New paper out now! Programmed hierarchical patterning of bacterial populations
New paper out now! Programmed hierarchical patterning of bacterial populations

New paper out now! Programmed hierarchical patterning of bacterial populations

23 February 2018

First author Christian Boehm, who earned his PhD in the Haseloff Lab and is the founder of the European Association of Synthetic Biology Students and Postdocs, reflects on the significance of this latest publication.


Read more at: Loop Assembly: a simple and open system for recursive fabrication of DNA circuits
Loop Assembly: a simple and open system for recursive fabrication of DNA circuits

Loop Assembly: a simple and open system for recursive fabrication of DNA circuits

13 February 2018

As part of a collaboration between the University of Cambridge the Universidad Catolica de Chile, Pollak and Federici have devised a new method for gene assembly based on two Type IIS restriction endonuceases, Bsal and Sapl. Loop Assembly allows rapid and efficient production of large DNA constructs, is compatible with widely used Level zero (L0) DNA parts such as Phytobricks, and can be easily automated.


Read more at: Bio-solar panel developed by researchers at University of Cambridge and Imperial College London
Bio-solar panel developed by researchers at University of Cambridge and Imperial College London

Bio-solar panel developed by researchers at University of Cambridge and Imperial College London

29 November 2017

A two-in-one solar bio-battery and solar panel has been created by researchers who printed living cyanobacteria and circuitry onto paper.


Read more at: Report highlights opportunities and risks associated with synthetic biology and bioengineering
Report highlights opportunities and risks associated with synthetic biology and bioengineering

Report highlights opportunities and risks associated with synthetic biology and bioengineering

23 November 2017

Human genome editing, 3D-printed replacement organs and artificial photosynthesis – the field of bioengineering offers great promise for tackling the major challenges that face our society. But as a new article out today highlights, these developments provide both opportunities and risks in the short and long term.


Read more at: Improving processing of softwood to biofuels with synthetic biology

Improving processing of softwood to biofuels with synthetic biology

4 October 2017

A new publication from the lab of Prof. Paul Dupree, University of Cambridge in Biotechnology for Biofuels describes work to improve processing of softwood to biofuels using a synthetic biology strategy to express and assay conifer cell wall synthesis enzymes.


Read more at: Biotechnology for Biofuels - a Strategy to Improve Converting Plant Biomass into Biofuel
Biotechnology for Biofuels - a Strategy to Improve Converting Plant Biomass into Biofuel

Biotechnology for Biofuels - a Strategy to Improve Converting Plant Biomass into Biofuel

4 October 2017

Removal of glucuronic acid from xylan is a strategy to improve the conversion of plant biomass to sugars for bioenergy


Read more at: A Major Advance in Plastid Transformation

A Major Advance in Plastid Transformation

27 September 2017

Professor Julian Hibberd (Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge) has summarised advances towards efficient plastid transformation in Arabidopsis thaliana as part of a new paper in Plant Physiology